Originally Posted by
thequest 
I can't believe the school hasn't called the mom in to see why her child is constantly flunking.
Just a few questions about this aspect of the post:
-how old is the child? You called the child younger, but he/she couldn't be that young if they have been failing several years...
-are you certain the school hasn't been calling? Just because the addict says the school hasn't called doesn't make that true... and I find it hard to believe that the school hasn't tried to contact mom somehow, even if it's just to test for special education services or something. It really sounds to me like there's more to that part of the story.
-a flunking child is not necessarily a sign of abuse or neglect. Unfortunately, we are in a time where educators can get in trouble if they point fingers when there's not enough evidence (bruises, comments from the child, etc); but then we also can get in trouble if we don't act when we should. It's a very thin line we walk every day.
Professionals in education can get in trouble if they jump the gun on contacting social services.... but you as an individual cannot. I say go ahead and call... at least maybe having social services pay the mom a visit may get her attention and convince her to get that kid out of there.